the health of the american economy and maybe if it goes down to the wire the fiscal cliff story will receive 1/10 theed my ya attention as the scandalous saga of dave and paula and john and jill. joining us now here the washington is jane hall. bob cusack, managing editor of the capital nooup the hill. and amy argetsinger. why has it become synonymous with bore dom? >> well, there's no sex with it. that's the bottom line. this story is wild. the petraeus story has gone in a lot of different directions. first he resigns. then we find out why. then we find out about the other woman. the inappropriate e-mails. >> you're saying that barack obama meeting with john boehner and mitch mcconnell doesn't quite get readers as excited? >> not as titillating. >> this is what the election was fought over and yet i have the impression that a lot of the country is yawning but really many of the journalists covering the story are oning. >> there's a story about low how the mighty are falling. privacy, security, while covering the sex. >> are you suggesting that the bigger issues are actually a bit of